Elon Musk<\/a> not only designs the social media platform as a privately owned company but this big buy can also signal huge changes for Twitter users.<\/p>\n After the news of his buy on Monday, Elon Musk released the following statement:<\/p>\n \u201cFree speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter<\/a> is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated. I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spambots, and authenticating all humans. Twitter has tremendous potential \u2013 I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it.\u201d<\/p>\n Musk is a zealous Twitter user with more than 83.5 million followers and a single tweet of his can get over 2 million likes, the highest on Twitter.\u00a0 Here are some of the changes he has proposed unofficially.<\/p>\n Last month, Musk tweeted the \u201cTwitter algorithm should be open source.\u201d Dorsey even expressed his agreement. Twitter did roll out a feature in early March allowing users to alternate their timelines between seeing posts in chronological order and an algorithmic order. Just a few days later, Twitter walked back the change.<\/p>\n An open-source algorithm would make public the code Twitter uses to decide which tweets to promote and which to hide from users\u2019 feeds. This change to Twitter\u2019s software would also make visible the role of computer programs in moderating and policing content on the platform.<\/p>\n Conservatives, particularly, are wary that Twitter\u2019s algorithm is biased against them. Making the code public, in theory, would make the service more transparent\u2014or as Musk put it, show that there is no \u201cbehind-the-scenes manipulation.\u201d However, open sourcing an algorithm is far more complex and may be harder to understand, which only experts can calculate.<\/p>\n On April 1, Twitter said it was working on an edit button, a feature that would allow users to change or correct tweets after they are posted. While some users chalked it up as an April Fools\u2019 joke, Musk \u2013 then the platform\u2019s largest outside stakeholder \u2013 tweeted a poll asking followers if they wanted an edit button.<\/p>\n Of the more than 4.4 million voters in his poll, 75% said they wanted the option. The next day, Jay Sullivan, head of consumer product for Twitter, tweeted, \u201cWe\u2019ve been exploring how to build an Edit feature in a safe manner since last year and plan to begin testing it within Twitter Blue Labs in the coming months.\u201d<\/p>\n Twitter also establishes an edit button is in the making.\u00a0\u00a0Twitter co-founder and Musk friend Jack Dorsey said in a 2020 interview with Wired that the company would \u201cprobably never\u201d create an edit button, noting that while it would be helpful for some errors, it could give way to malicious changes to tweets. Dorsey stepped down as Twitter\u2019s CEO in 2021.<\/p>\n Elon Musk has previously asked followers in a Twitter poll if they believed the platform was protecting free speech. About 70% of the 2 million who responded said \u201cno.\u201d In his statement Monday, Musk called free speech \u201cthe bedrock of a functioning democracy\u201d with Twitter serving as \u201cthe digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated.\u201d<\/p>\n Censorship on social media has been a major talking point, especially among right-wing users. A recent study by MIT and Yale researchers found more American Republican users were suspended within a six-month period; however, these users tended to share \u201cmore news from misinformation,\u201d which Twitter has been working to remove from its site.<\/p>\n This leaves others wondering whether free speech includes hate speech and racial slurs.\u00a0 A lot has to be discovered in the new Twitter.<\/p>\n Elon Musk has described himself as a \u201cfree-speech absolutist\u201d but is also known for blocking other Twitter users who question or disagree with him.<\/p>\n In a series of tweets earlier this month, Musk suggested multiple changes to Twitter, including removing ads and bots from the platform.<\/p>\n \u201cThe power of corporations to dictate policy is greatly enhanced if Twitter depends on advertising money to survive,\u201d Musk said at the time. Nearly 90% of Twitter\u2019s revenue in 2021 came from advertising. Twitter did announce last week, on Earth Day, that it would no longer allow advertisers on its site who deny the scientific consensus on climate change.<\/p>\n Twitter bans ads that contradict science on climate change.\u00a0 While he didn\u2019t speak about ads in his statement released Monday, Musk did state that he wants to \u201c[defeat] the spam bots\u201d on the platform. Twitter recently reported about 5% of its users are bots, but noted \u201cnot all bots are bad\u201d and that \u201cgood bots\u201d are being labeled.<\/p>\n Musk previously suggested improving Twitter\u2019s authentication of verified user accounts, saying it would discourage the increase of spam accounts by making them too expensive to maintain.<\/p>\n The relationship between Trump and Musk on the surface seemed friendly in recent years.<\/p>\n Musk attended Trump\u2019s business council meetings in 2017 and, in May of 2020, the former American president met up with Musk in Florida to watch the launch of SpaceX Falcon 9 at the Kennedy Space Center.<\/p>\n While Musk tweeted in 2017 that he directed a critical light at the Trump administration\u2019s climate change and travel ban policies, the world\u2019s richest man has found common ground with Trump in recent years.<\/p>\n Another question mark that rises after the jaw-dropping sale of Twitter is whether or not Trump even wants to revive his Twitter profile and its millions of followers.<\/p>\n Trump said Monday that he applauds Musk’s acquisition but that he has no plans to divert attention from his own platform, \u201cTruth Social.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI am not going on Twitter, I am going to stay on TRUTH,\u201d Trump told Fox News. \u201cI hope Elon buys Twitter because he\u2019ll make improvements to it and he is a good man, but I am going to be staying on TRUTH.\u201d<\/p>\n Shares of Truth social dropped sharply Monday on the news, plunging more than 12% on the day. The would-be social media competitor has seen its stock value nearly halved since Musk announced his intentions to take over Twitter.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, a hilarious trend #leavingtwitter<\/a><\/span> is going on about netizens leaving Twitter, take a look:<\/p>\n After #twittersold<\/a> for $44 billion to Elon Musk , — M A S A L U \ud83d\udde1\ufe0f (@YourMasalu) April 26, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\nSome Changes Elon Suggests<\/h3>\n
Opening Up The Algorithm<\/strong><\/h4>\n
An Edit Button<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Free Speech<\/strong><\/h4>\n
No More Ads or Bots<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Elon Musk Earlier Suggested Improving Twitter\u2019s Authentication of Verified User Accounts<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Some Questions<\/h3>\n
Will Elon Musk restore Trump\u2019s Twitter account?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Some users are #leavingtwitter<\/a> like : pic.twitter.com\/6E3qnzsAOY<\/a><\/p>\n